An Unfortunate End
by SinaiConners
Summary: The world around Sihate (Gohan's best childhood friend) comes crashing down, when tragedy strikes her family. I know I suck at Summaries. :P Just RR
1. Graveyard

A/N: I know I know, no prologue. Oh well.  
  
By the way, just for all those slow people who might not already know none of the DBZ characters belong to me. However the other characters (i.e. Sihate or Hala) do, so you are not permited to use them in any of your stories without permission. :D  
  
Sihate sat on the cold cement bench, beside her fathers grave. The tears streaming down her face. Her body was unstable, due to several days of holding back her tears, trying to be strong. Her hands shook furiously, and the only thing preventing them from shaking themselves right off her wrists was that her face planted firmly upon them. Her lungs were pleading with her, for more air, but she would not take any more in. She could not be strong anymore. It would stop here. She refused to breathe. If neither of her parents could take another breath then why should she be able to? She laid down and began to cough. Her lungs had betrayed her. She cursed herself. There was not enough will power within her to go through with ending her own life.  
  
She felt her heart slowly return to it's normal speed.   
  
Looking up, her eyes found a tall, muscular, black haired boy walking toward her. Even his comforting face could not help her now.   
  
"I thought I would find you here," He told her. "Everyone is looking for you."  
  
"Let them keep looking," She told him with malice apparent in her voice. She was now trying to hold back her tears. A hatred for weakness had always lived in Sihate, which made it difficult for her to show emotion to anyone.  
  
"Oh Sihate," He sighed, moving closer, and putting his arm around her.  
  
She pulled away from him. "Leave me!" The distraught girl exclaimed.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Don't worry child. Even though she's gone. We'll always be here for you." The priest told her.  
  
He had been like a father to Sihate since her own passed away, what seemed like so long ago.  
  
"I can't stay here any longer," Sihate stated, looking over the mass of people clothed in black. "I have to go somewhere, where I can be alone. I…" She hesitated, "…have to go!" With that the girl tore out of the funeral home, heading for the first place that came to mind.  
  
The priest informed a few of her closest friends, and what was left of her family that she had run away. Only one, her oldest friend, knew where she would be found.   
  
The young boy walked through an old gateway entering the Ever Grove graveyard. He found his upset friend, sitting on a cement garden bench under a weeping willow tree, ironically weeping. He had almost been brought to tears himself, at the sight.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"I said leave me!" She yelled again, after the boy had refused to abandon her. Her eyes filled with hatred and tears streaming down her colourless cheeks, she added, "Please,"  
  
"I won't. I can't just leave you here to cry." The boy told her.  
  
"Well, then I'll just have to go find somewhere else to cry." Standing up, she rubbed the forming tears out of her eyes.   
  
Beginning to walk away, Sihate felt a strong hand grab her arm, and pull her close to the warm body, to which it belonged. She did not struggle. It could not be helped, she began to cry, "Oh, Gohan…"  
  
Letting the boy capture her in his strong arms, she buried her face in his chest. The two sat down on the ground next to the willow tree.  
  
Sihate opened her eyes to find herself still in Gohan's reassuring embrace. Sihate did not realise how tired she had been. She had not slept since she had been informed of her mother's critical condition. "How long was I asleep?" She asked drowsily, taking her face away from the warmth of Gohan's body.  
  
"About an hour,"   
  
"Thank you," She smothered her face back against Gohan. She felt his heart race, as she hugged him. Again, tears began to form in Sihate's eyes. "Gohan?" She waited.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Hala and I, we're alone now." She hesitated. "What will we do? Where will we live? Now that they're both…" She bit her bottom lip in a failed attempt to stop it from quivering. "…dead." She cried, and the tears now streamed freely down her cheeks.  
  
"You could always, stay with us." He suggested.  
  
Between sobs Sihate stated, "Gohan, we both know that there's not enough room in your house. And Chi-Chi has enough trouble feeding you and Goten, with all that you eat. I could never ask you to do that."  
  
"You didn't ask, I offered. And we could eat less." Hearing Sihate laugh a little, he smiled, "Okay, so maybe we wouldn't eat less, but with what we eat, two more normal sized stomachs would be nothing to fill." Another smothered chuckle came from Sihate.   
  
"Thank you, but I can't."   
  
They left the graveyard together, without exchanging another word, and Gohan walked Sihate back to the glebe house where she would be staying for the night. 


	2. My Promise

Sihate talked with her sister, Hala, who was six, and had only been two at the time their father had died. She and Sihate were now alone.   
  
The two went to bed early. Hala had been offered her own room, but wanted to stay with her sister, so they shared a bed. The night passed slowly after the small girl had stopped talking and went to sleep. Sihate lay awake and contemplated her few options. She had considered running away, or ending her own life, either of which she would have done, had it not been for her sister. She could not leave Hala alone, to grow to be bitter and distant, as she had.  
  
Her sister was the light in the darkness that was Sihate's life. She would not let that light be put out.  
  
The older girl came to a decision, that she would have to get a job. This would mean she had to drop out of school. Sihate had never liked school, but now that she found it necessary to drop out, it seemed like a part of her childhood was being torn from her failing hands.   
  
Her will to protect this small child gave her strength. She would give her life to spare her sister of ever experiencing the horrible pain that she found herself having to battle with every passing day.  
  
Turning over under the stiff covers to face her sister, she made a silent promise;  
  
I will be here for you if ever you need me.  
  
I will keep you safe.  
  
I will do my best to provide for you.  
  
No matter what happens I will always love you.  
  
Pushing a few stray bangs out of the child's face, she told her, "You're all I've got left. You're my everything, kid." Yawning, she turned on her stomach, and slowly fell asleep. Tears and sorrow, her lullaby.   
  
As the light broke through the open window next to the bed Sihate had slept on, she awoke.  
  
She longed sullenly for her dark blanket of night's slumber to replace the day now shining unwanted light upon her cruel reality.  
  
"Morning," Sihate said, sitting up.  
  
"You're supposed to say, good morning," Hala informed her older sister.  
  
"You don't use the word good, when everything in your world is bad," She looked at the small child, "Save for a few things." Sihate would later regret saying this, as, without knowing it, she had removed the word 'good' from her sister's vocabulary for quite some time.  
  
"Can we eat, now?" Hala asked.  
  
"You can, I have to get dressed,"   
  
"I can't go without you. I don't know where to go,"   
  
"Don't be silly, Hala. You know where the kitchen is. You go ahead and eat. I'm not hungry." She said, standing up and carrying her giggling sister out of the room, and placing her in the hall.   
  
Hala ran down the hallway to the kitchen. Then Sihate closed the door and got dressed.  
  
After a morning of preparation for mass, Sihate took a walk with Gohan, in the garden behind the church.   
  
She observed the expression on his face, changing as he watched the passing flowers and plant life, as they walked.   
  
Sihate could not keep from looking over at the place where she had first met the boy she was now walking with.  
  
~~**~~  
  
It had been a cheerful bright day that made you feel good. Completely unlike this day in which the weather reflected the way Sihate was feeling. Gloomy.  
  
Sihate was a small child, not yet in school, and had come out to the garden while waiting for her father to finish talking with the priest. She sat under a tree and began to sing. She had always found herself full of song when with her father.   
  
"Will you stop that stupid noise? It's hurting my ears." An older, but small boy said, walking out from behind a nearby hedge.  
  
"I'll sing if I want to." Sihate told the boy, as politely as those words could be said, and continued singing.  
  
"Listen kid, if you don't shut-up I'll shut you up." He threatened.  
  
"Go ahead and try," Sihate told him, and proceeded to sing a high note.   
  
This enraged the boy, who then ran at her and kicked her in the stomach, with all of his strength.   
  
Sihate winced and doubled over.  
  
The boy laughed and began to walk away. He stopped and whirled around after hearing something from Sihate.  
  
Sihate sat up, gasping for air. There had been no tears in her eyes, nor fear in her heart. She began to sing the word 'coward' over and over. Her small lungs pained, and begged her for more inward air.  
  
"So, you want more, do you?" Sihate could still remember the evil tone in the boy's voice as he asked this.  
  
He charged at her, with a ready fist.  
  
Holding an arm up in a feeble attempt to defend herself, she prepared for the blow. It never came.  
  
Looking up Sihate saw a small boy with wild black hair, dressed in a yellow shirt with green pants, and a red hat with a little orange ball on the top. He held out a hand and taking her's, helped Sihate to her feet.  
  
  
  
"What happened to the other boy?" She had asked.  
  
"I took care of him. Don't worry," was his reply.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Sihate? Do you know what you two are going to do, about the house?" Gohan questioned.  
  
"No," Sihate said, looking down at the ground as she walked.  
  
"If you want to talk about anything, just know that you can tell me anything."   
  
"Thank you," She stopped walking. "Gohan, it's like I've forgotten how to speak, or think for that matter. I don't even know how I'm feeling anymore. I don't understand myself anymore. I think you know me better than I do. Everything is so confusing." She pushed the tears back down. "I thought of running away, you know. Becoming a new person or something. Then I remembered Hala and I couldn't do it. I'm all she's got, and I don't want her to turn out like me."   
  
"I don't think turning out like you is a bad thing," Sihate's friend assured her.  
  
"I'm being serious Gohan," She scolded.  
  
"So was I," He said quietly. Sihate did not hear him. She was deep in thought.  
  
"I don't think it's hit me yet, that she's gone. Like this morning I half expected her to come and wake me up." She told him absent-mindedly.  
  
"I know what you mean. I picked up the phone to call you this morning, and when you didn't answer, I assumed you were out for your morning walk with your mother. Not long after, I remembered."   
  
"Hala doesn't even seem to notice. I don't know why. Maybe she's forgotten, or just in denial."   
  
"Can a six year old be in denial?"   
  
"Sure," Sihate, said and sat down under a tree "I can't bring myself to tell her the truth."  
  
"I can help. If you need me there, I'll stay with you when you tell her."  
  
"No, I want to do it by myself. I'll tell her."  
  
"Okay, then. If you're sure." Gohan's statement was followed by a moment of silence.  
  
Sihate's face turned serious. "I can't stand it. I know there's a reason for everything, but why did they have to die? What's the reasoning in that? It's not fair! They can't just not be here. They left us alone. I hate them for leaving us. Then I hate myself for hating them." Tears began to pool in the girl's eyes.   
  
Gohan put an arm around her. "Never hate yourself. You're too good for that."  
  
"What are we going to do? I can sell the house. That will give us a good amount of money, but then where will we go? We can't stay with the priest forever." Placing her head carefully on her friends shoulder she began to weep.  
  
Her body shook with every inward breath. Between sobs, she told him, "I'm sorry to burden you with this."   
  
He wrapped both strong arms around her and said, "It's no burden. It's an honour."   
  
The two walked back to the glebe house to get Hala. 


	3. Visit

As Sihate opened the door to the living area, she found her sister playing chess with Father Jamison.   
  
The small girl heard the door open and before turning to find Sihate and Gohan she said excitedly, "Mommy?"   
  
The priest frowned. They all knew now, that the little girl did not understand her mother's passing.  
  
She stood and ran to Gohan, hugging him. Picking her up, he swung her onto his shoulders. Gohan had been more of a big brother to Hala, than one of her sister's friends. He, along with Sihate's immediate family and the doctors were the only people in attendance when Hala had been born. Since Gohan had been around so much, while she was growing up, Hala thought of him as nothing less than family.  
  
She laughed, then asked, "Sihate, When is mommy coming back?"  
  
Once again Sihate found herself, desperately trying to hold back her tears. She hung her head. "Mommy, isn't coming back." She said, taking her sister down from Gohan's shoulders.  
  
"Don't be silly Sihate. Of course Mommy is coming back." The girl laughed, and wiggled her way out of Sihate's grip.  
  
Sihate could not bring herself to correct her sister. She would explain everything to the child later. For now she would leave her in her happy propaganda.   
  
"I'll be at the church, along with the other priests. We have a meeting with the embroidering women this evening, so if you don't mind, you two will be left on your own. Though, if you feel you need me, I'll cancel the meeting, and stay here." Father Jamison told them.  
  
"No, you go to your meeting. We'll be fine here." Sihate insisted.  
  
"If you're sure," He said, and exited the room.  
  
"You can come to my house for the evening." Gohan suggested.  
  
"Oh, no. We'll be fine here," Sihate told him.  
  
"Please! Please, can we go? I want to see Goten!" Hala pleaded with her sister.  
  
"Alright, alright," She turned to Gohan. "As long as you're sure it's okay."  
  
"I'm positive. We have lots of food. You can have some of mine, and I'm sure Goten will share." This was a sure sign that Gohan really wanted them to come. A saiyan doesn't often offer their food to others.  
  
"Hooray!" The child exclaimed. "I love Lady Son's cooking!" Hala always called Chi-Chi, Lady Son. "How are we going to get there, Gohan?"  
  
"Well, I was thinking me and Sihate could take the nimbus while you fly." Gohan mused.  
  
They had discovered a long time ago that Sihate and Hala were also able to use the flying nimbus.  
  
"No silly! I can't fly!" The child giggled.  
  
"No? Well, then I guess you'll just have to ride the nimbus."  
  
Hala squealed with glee, then turned on her heel and ran down to her temporary room.   
  
The two left in the room exchanged questioning looks, before letting a slight snigger escape from their mouths.  
  
Hala ran back into the room with a scarf around her neck and a winter hat in her hand. "In case it gets too cold." She stated, and walked to the back door.  
  
Sihate wrote a note to the priests, explaining where they would be, before she left.  
  
When Sihate walked out of the house the nimbus was right in front of her face. "But, how did it get here so fa…" she trailed off, seeing the guilty smile on Gohan's face.  
  
He helped Hala onto the yellow cloud.  
  
"Okay, how about we race you to my house." He suggested, once Hala was securely on the nimbus.  
  
"Okay," The small girl smiled. "Go nimbus!" She yelled, and took off.  
  
"Cheater!" Sihate yelled, then flew after her.  
  
Goku had taught Sihate how to fly when she was very young so that she would not have to wait for Gohan to bring the nimbus to pick her up every time she wanted to visit the Son's home. She and Gohan had been trying to teach Hala how to fly before their mother died, to no avail.  
  
They let Hala win the race to Gohan's house.  
  
Upon their arrival, they were greeted by an excited Goten. The boy ran up to his small friend. "Hi Hala. Hi Sihate, I haven't seen you in a long time. Why didn't you come visit in so long?" Goten asked.  
  
"Goten! Be polite. Mind your own business." Gohan knew that Sihate would not want to answer this question.  
  
"We were waiting for mommy to come back." Hala stated, ignoring Gohan.  
  
"Where did she go?" Goten asked.  
  
"I don't know," The small girl took a moment to think, "but I'm sure she'll be back soon."  
  
The two small children ran to the back of the house, to play in the woods.  
  
A slender woman walked out of the house. Her black hair tied back into a neat bun, away from her beautiful, but aged face.  
  
Reaching Sihate, she pulled her into a hug, before flashing a brief and pitiful smile.  
  
"You're staying for the night?" Chi-Chi more told Sihate, than asked her.  
  
"No, we'll just stay for the evening."   
  
"Don't be foolish, Sihate. Of course you're staying the night. Besides, I need another woman around the house. I get lonely for some feminine company." Chi-Chi insisted.  
  
Sihate knew that Chi-Chi was just trying to make a reason for Sihate to feel she was needed, but nonetheless it worked. "Can I help with anything around the house?"  
  
"No, you four go and relax." Chi-Chi told them, before turning and walking into the house.  
  
Sihate and Gohan walked back behind the house, to find Hala and Goten, playing tag. 


	4. Memories

Goten ran up to Gohan and tagged his arm. "You're it!" He said, running away. Gohan followed.  
  
Hala walked up to her older sister and tugged on her pant leg. "Sister, can we go to the river? I like it there."  
  
"It's the Son's house. Ask them,"  
  
Hala raced up to Gohan, and asked the same question.  
  
Looking down at the small girl, with a smile on his face, he told her, "If you want to, we will,"   
  
They walked through the woods for quite some time, Gohan and Sihate each carrying their siblings on their backs.   
  
Reaching the river, Sihate put her sister down next to it's eroded bank, and sat down under the nearest tree.  
  
Gohan walked over to the water, Goten still clinging to his back. "You want to swim?"  
  
"Yes!" a scream in the older boys ear was his reply.  
  
Gohan lifted the boy above his head, and threw him into the water. Lightly, as not to hurt him.   
  
"Now me!" Hala screeched, running over to the boy.  
  
Sihate sat under the shade of the tree recalling everything that had occurred over the past few days. Nothing made sense anymore. All she could think of was what her mother had to go through, while she was gone. She had not been there for her mother when she was needed. Maybe if she had been there, she could have made a difference, she could have changed her mother's fate.  
  
~~**~~  
  
"Are you comfortable there?" Chi-Chi asked her new house guest.  
  
"Yes, thank you," Sihate had decided to stay the night at the Son's home, because she had lost track of time, and upon calling her mother it was made clear that she was to stay there for the night, to prevent anything from happening to her on the way home in the dark.   
  
Sihate had been told to stay in Gohan's room. She had refused to bother him by taking his room, but Chi-Chi had insisted that she 'simply must stay in Gohan's room, because it would be improper to have a guest in our home, and a woman no less, sleeping on the floor.'  
  
Sihate fell asleep with warm thoughts running through her head. It was night's like this that she loved. To be able to see the stars from anywhere, after spending the evening with her best friend, in what had become a second home to Sihate.  
  
Sihate awoke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Dry tears clung to her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had to get air. Throwing her covers off of her warm body, she walked over to the open window.   
  
She took in three deep breaths when the door swung open, flooding light into the room. Sihate winced, as her eyes adjusted. She found Chi-Chi standing in the doorway, dressed in a red robe and night gown, with black slippers.  
  
"Get the phone Sihate, it's important." The woman said in a voice, trying to be calm, but carrying a note of frantic worry.  
  
Sihate walked out to the phone. She picked it up, unsure if she wanted to hear the message from the other side.   
  
"Your mother and sister have been in a car accident. Your sister is fine. She has a bump on her head, and that's about it. Your mother was not so fortunate. She is in critical condition, and may not make it through the night." The doctor on the other end had told her. She would have broke down into tears, right there had she not been in such a rush to get to the hospital.  
  
"I have to go." Sihate ran out the door still wearing only the large shirt, that Gohan had lent to her, as a night gown.  
  
Gohan walked out to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What's going on?"  
  
"Go after her!" Chi-Chi yelled.  
  
Gohan looked down at his boxer short pyjamas, then looked back at his mother with an expression that seemed to ask 'are you crazy?'   
  
"Just go!" The woman shouted again. Gohan grabbed a pair of pants lying on the back of a chair, and Chi-Chi tossed her night gown to him, for Sihate. He ran out the door and flew after the girl.  
  
Sihate noticed the boy catching up to her, and without meaning to, sped up. All thought was banished from her mind as she flew. She could get there faster if she did not think about anything.  
  
Landing at the hospital, she bolted through the doors and took no notice of the several people she had run into. Sihate had been running so fast she had no time to stop when she reached the receptionist's desk, so she ran into it.  
  
"Where is my mother? Conners, Alecia Conners is her name! Please, where is she? I was told she's in critical condition!" Sihate asked, out of breath.  
  
"One moment please," The lady behind the desk told her.   
  
Sihate was waiting impatiently, when Gohan ran up beside her. He now had pants on, but no shirt.   
  
"Fourth floor, room forty four, and the elevators are over there," The woman pointed to her left.   
  
"Make sure Hala is okay!" Sihate yelled as she ran to the elevators.  
  
Sihate waited for an elevator and when it's great doors opened, it was revealed that there was not enough room for her. Once again Sihate took off, this time for the stairs. She ran the four flights, in seconds.   
  
The girl ran up and down the hallways, stopping only when she reached a dark room, with the number forty four written beside it. She turned the corner, unhappy with what she found. A woman lay on the hospital bed, machines attached to her from everywhere.   
  
The woman's only movement was a slight rise and fall in her chest, as she breathed. She was a beautiful woman with long flowing chestnut coloured hair, and fair skin, that was normally smooth and soft. Today her skin was covered several painful bruises and gashes of many sizes.  
  
The young girl pulled a chair up next to her mother, and whispered in the woman's ear, "Are you still, here?" She waited for a response.  
  
A slight movement of the woman's index finger told the girl that she was not alone. She hugged her mother lightly, not wanting to hurt her any more than she already was.   
  
"Sihate? Sihate? Anybody home?"  
  
~~**~~  
  
Sihate found herself being dragged from her memories, by human interaction. Someone was hitting her on the head. She welcomed this interaction, she had had enough of those painful memories.  
  
Looking up, Sihate found the intruder of her thoughts to be her little sister. "We're leaving now, Sihate." 


	5. Dreadful Night

A/N: Any and all characters of DBZ are not mine. *Pouts* Please tell me what you think. I love reviewers. :D  
  
Sihate sat up straight. Only now realizing that her sister was soaked, and had been dripping all over her. The sun was setting in the sky, and the smell of Chi-Chi's amazing cooking was in the air. She had not realized that she zoned out for so long.  
  
"Ready, Sihate?" Gohan asked, Goten now upon his shoulders.  
  
Just as Sihate got to her feet, the small girl beside her climbed onto her back and rest her head on Sihate's shoulder.  
  
The group walked back through the woods to the Son house, and ate supper. A very long supper.   
  
Sihate helped Chi-Chi with the dishes while the other three went outside to catch fireflies.   
  
That night Sihate and Hala shared Gohan's bed, while the two boys slept in Goten's room. Although, Sihate had always gotten the best sleeps in this very bed, she could not bring herself to close her eyes. For fear of reliving that horrible night again.   
  
Eventually she found her eyelids too heavy to keep open, and reluctantly fell asleep.  
  
~~**~~  
  
A doctor walked into the room, a medical chart in his hands.   
  
Sihate did not look up. She did not want to waste her last precious moments with her mother talking to a doctor.  
  
"I know you don't want to talk right now, but would you like for me to tell you what happened?"  
  
Sihate gave a slight nod before placing her ear on her mother's chest, to hear a slow heartbeat.   
  
"She was in her car, and there was a drunk driver. She swerved to make way for the drunk driver to get by, to keep him from being hit by a transfer truck. Unfortunately, the truck swerved as well, and they collided, head on. It's amazing she's even alive." With that, the room fell silent once more, and the doctor exited.   
  
Sihate placed her hand inside her mother's cold fist.   
  
She had laid there for quite some time, when a faint noise came from the feeble woman laying on the bed. "I'm sorry,"  
  
"What? What, are you sorry for?"  
  
"Having to leave you," The quiet voice said slowly.  
  
"No, you don't have to leave! Don't leave!"  
  
"I must. Please understand," She was using all of her strength to speak to her daughter. "Say goodbye to Hala for me, tell her I love her with all of my heart."  
  
"I love you, Mother. Don't leave! I beg of you!" Sihate pleaded.  
  
"Tell Gohan that I love him, and that he will make a good daddy someday." She paused to take a deep breath. "I will miss you very much, but we'll see each other again." She took in another rasping breath before continuing. "I love you more than words can say, Sihate. Goodbye,"  
  
"No!" She noticed her mother's hand squeeze her's tightly then go limp. She had passed away. "No! Mommy! Come back!" She pounded the side of the bed, with a closed fist, tears now streaming down her face. "Please!" She yelled to the air.  
  
It was too late. No matter how much Sihate wished, pleaded, or prayed, her mother would not come back to her now.  
  
She wiped away her tears and walked out of the room. Sihate found herself caught in a hug from Gohan. He wrapped the warm house coat around her, lovingly.   
  
Gohan always knew exactly what to say, in this case, nothing.  
  
~~**~~  
  
Sihate woke up at six o'clock as was the common time to be awake in the Son house. She and her sister walked to the kitchen to make breakfast.   
  
After a good breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and fruit salad, Gohan and Sihate went outside to train.   
  
Sihate threw a punch at Gohan's chest. He caught her fist and flipped her over ont her back.  
  
She would have normally sprung back up, but she could not find her urge to get back up. There was nothing to get back up for.  
  
She stood slowly, and with a sigh, flew up to where Gohan hovered above her, slamming him downward. He recovered before hitting the ground and appeared behind Sihate.   
  
A blow to her stomach sent her flying into a nearby mountain. She pulled herself out of the newest crater she had created in to side of the mountain.   
  
"Gohan. I think I'm done training for today." She told the boy.  
  
The two girls went home after thanking the Son family profusely for having them. 


	6. Denial

A/N: I know it's taken forever to get this next chapter up but please R+R. Hope you like it :)  
  
Upon their arrival at their temporary home, the glebe house, they discovered that they had the house to themselves.  
  
Sihate decided to take this opportunity to inform her sister of the horrible truth, that she had to face.  
  
"Hala, you have to sit down." Sihate seated herself in the rocking chair in the living area.  
  
The little girl jumped onto her sister's lap, snuggling up against her. "What is it, sister?"  
  
"Mother, is not coming back."  
  
"Yes, she is Sihate." The girl smiled, thinking her sister was trying to trick her.  
  
"No, Hala she is not coming back."  
  
"No, Sihate." The small girl was getting sick of this joke. It was not very funny.  
  
"She can't come back,"  
  
"Yes, she can. When we were going to pick you up, she told me so. She said that she would be with me no matte what, Sihate."  
  
"What do you mean? When were you coming to pick me up?"  
  
"The night that you had at sleepover at the night at the Son's house. You were mad about not coming home to sleep, so we were going to pick you take you home with us, so you could be happy again."  
  
So that's what they were doing. They were coming to pick me up, when they got in the accident. So it was my fault. It was all my fault that mom died. Sinai shook those thoughts out of her head. I have to stop thinking about anything else, about why my mother died, I need to focus on Hala. I need to tell her the truth.  
  
"Hala, was that the night that you got in the accident?"  
  
"What accident?"  
  
"The accident that gave you that bump," Sihate brushed a few hairs out of the child's face, revealing a large bump on the girl's forehead.  
  
"Oh, that accident. Yes, that's the night my head got hurted."  
  
"Hala, Mother is not coming back."  
  
"Yes! She is!"  
  
"She is not coming back. The night when you got that bump, mommy died."  
  
The small girl shook her head feverishly. "No!" She screamed. "Mommy is coming back!"  
  
Sihate had to keep calm. She had to keep her head, and face clear. Looking into her sister's eyes she said, "Mother has gone. She cannot come back. She's gone to heaven with the angels," She stopped for a moment, and lowered her eyes. " with daddy,"   
  
"No, Sihate!" The girl hit her sister's arm. She did not want to be a part of this joke anymore.  
  
"Yes, she's dead,"   
  
"No!" The small girl cried. "Mommy wouldn't leave us!" She was now pounding her sister with tiny balled-up fists.  
  
"She did not choose to. It was not her choice. Her life was taken from her."  
  
"No! You're lying! Stop it, Sihate!" The child's hammering was beginning to hurt Sihate.  
  
"I would not lie to you. I am telling the truth. It's okay to be mad, Hala." Sihate looked straight into her sister's eyes and asked, "You hear me?"   
  
The girl finished her abuse with one last strong blow to Sihate's chest. She then ran down the hall into her temporary room, slamming the door. From the closed door Sihate heard a muffled voice yell, "She's not dead!"  
  
Sihate had not gotten through to her. She would try again another time. 


	7. Old Home

A/N: Okay I have not updated in SO long but I do have more done...PLEASE R+R   
  
Another lonely night rolled passed, the two sisters almost silent the whole time. The next day Sihate decided to go back to their house.  
  
Hala insisted on coming.   
  
The girl climbed onto her sister's back, preparing to fly to their house.   
  
Sihate landed on the ground in front of a large white house, with a black roof and shutters. She took a key out of her pocket, and opened the front door. The house was filled with furniture, but still looked empty. There was something about it, an uneasy feeling drifted in the air.  
  
"Get all the stuff that you want to take. I'm going to check the messages." Sihate told her sister, who was now running up the stairs to her room.  
  
The messages left on the phone were all condolences. All but one. It was a message from a social worker. It stated;  
  
"Hello Sihate and Hala, I am sorry for your loss. I am a social worker from child welfare. We can not have you living alone in your house. You can either go live with your legal guardian or we will be by to pick up you and your sister and take you to a foster home, or a group home. Whichever is available. When you get this, please contact me at 555-8097."  
  
Sihate hung up the phone. Who was her legal guardian?  
  
Hala came racing down the stairs. "I'm done," She said in a cheery voice.  
  
Apparently she had either forgotten about their talk yesterday, or maybe she just decided to pretend it had never happened.  
  
"Do you know who your legal guardian is?" Sihate asked Hala on the way back to the glebe house.  
  
"Nope," Her sister answered in a sing song voice.  
  
When they landed at the glebe house, father Jamison was outside in the garden watering the plant life.  
  
Hala hopped off Sihate's back, and ran into the house, while Sihate walked over to father Jamison. "Who's my legal guardian?"   
  
Father Jamison halted tending to his garden. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"A social worker called. She said that me and Hala had to go live with our legal guardians or they will put us in a foster, or group home."  
  
"You would be better off in the foster home."  
  
"Why? What's wrong with my legal guardian?"  
  
"He's a drunk. He used to be your father's best friend. He had a child. A boy. When his son died he slipped into depression, and he's now a tortured soul, addicted to booze."   
  
"So, we should go to the foster home?"   
  
"I think you should consider all of your options, and once you have, come to me, and tell me what you have found out about each. Then, if you would like, I can help you decide."  
  
"Thank you," Sihate said, and walked into the house.  
  
Later that afternoon she had spoken with Father Jamison and decided to go to the foster, or group home. 


End file.
